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My name is Loren Hicks. I am a banjo player, writer, and consultant living in The Junction in Toronto, Canada. This site showcases some of the many things I care about including: my music, my stories and my time spent on the road. And possibly, from time, to time, kittens.

Take some time to look around and let me know what you think. I welcome your questions and comments.

Reserve the date! Whatever you celebrate, come celebrate with us. It’s the 3rd annual H&D Holiday Party at Graffiti’s. We’ll be decorating the place (that alone you should see), and once again having a number of cool door prizes including, yes, some handmade organic Chocolate Jesuses (Jesi?) from COCO.

We’ll be playing three sets, but probably shorter ones so we can chat and catch up with everyone. We want to party, too! So if you haven’t been out in a while, this is the one to come to. As usual – no cover.

I don’t usually post about death. But in Bill Keith’s case, I feel the loss. I only got to meet him a dozen or so times, with a few phone calls in between, so my conversations with him are measured in hours. His genius as a musician needs no comment from me. And I’m sure his humility and genuine friendliness and support to anyone I ever knew him to meet will be spoken of as well. So I’ll just chronicle two things.

The first was a particular time we were sitting in a room Keep Reading!

We need no excuse to party. But Hallowe’en does make a good one. Thursday the 29th we’ll be at Graffiti’s early to dress the place up a bit and put us in a scary mood. Then, just after 7 we’ll start a completely new set list of tunes to back up your partying. We’ll be doing 3 sets, done by 10:30 or thereabouts, plenty early enough to be in shape for Friday. Or come for just one, whatever turns your broom.

Some of us will be in costumes. You can, too. In fact – please! Prize for the best one.

Doc on guitar, Loren on banjos, and Neil on sax and bass … Be there or be zombified …

Last rant of the election for me. As the debate shifts back to economics there is a huge elephant in the room that no one is talking about – the size and role of the federal government. Instead of a bunch of lies about religion, now we’re getting a bunch of lies about the economy, from all sides.

First – the situation. Harper has reduced the size of the government by about 2% of GDP, near as we can tell with the flawed numbers we have (more on that later). Keep Reading!

Are you afraid radical islamists will become the majority and impose sharia law in Canada?

I have a few friends who have told me they have this fear, and are quite passionate about it. They are well educated, thoughtful people. So I thought I should consider this in a calm way, to see what is the real fear, and what is passion.

I did a quick fact check. 4 minutes to find the data, and another 5 for some calculations Keep Reading!

Once again, I have been asked to host the open mic at the Magic Oven on Keele in The Junction. Bring your music, your rants, your poetry, your comedy, or just your eyes and ears for a feast. We have the entire upstairs just for us, with a stage and a killer sound system set up by our organizer yoR himself. Great food and local draft if you have a hunger or thirst.

We will also be recording, so if you come back in two weeks you can get a copy for whatever use you may want. And, as always, we’ll be going out live over StreetJelly, so catch us there if you can’t in person. That’s http://www.streetjelly.com and check the scheduler for YorStuff……

Warning: this long rant expresses how deeply I am saddened by the cynical niqab issue being used to enrage Canadians. Here’s why. I am truly old-stock Canadian. Parts of my family have been here at least 15,000 years or so. Here’s what we’ve seen: